Soybeans rise for second session on strong demand, Brazil planting woes

SINGAPORE, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Chicago soybean futures gained more ground on Tuesday, with a recovery in demand for U.S. shipments and delays in Brazilian planting supporting prices.

Wheat prices edged up amid higher prices in Russia, the world’s No. 1 exporter, while corn dipped.

* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rose 0.2% to $9.82-1/2 a bushel, as of 0011 GMT. Wheat added 0.2% to $5.73-1/4 a bushel and corn eased 0.1% to $4.09-1/4 a bushel.

* A rebound in demand for U.S. products in underpinning soybean futures.

* On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed a total of 380,000 metric tons of U.S. soybean sales for shipment to undisclosed buyers.

* The agency also confirmed 500,000 tons of corn sold to Mexico, South Korea and other undisclosed destinations for the 2024/25 marketing year.

* Brazil’s soybean planting for the 2024/25 season had reached 18% of the total expected area as of last Thursday, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up from 8% the week before but still below last year’s 30%.

* The U.S. soybean harvest was 81% complete as of Sunday, the fastest pace seen since 2010, according to the USDA’s weekly crop progress report released on Monday afternoon.

* It also reported that the corn harvest was 65% complete, ahead of the five-year average of 52%. The weekly pace was above analyst expectations of 63%, according to a Reuters poll of 12 analysts.

* For wheat, rain over parched wheat areas in southern Russia and the central U.S. eased some concerns over dryness, but drought still remains a pressing concern, analysts said.

* Russian wheat export prices rose last week, in line with the new indicative prices for Russian wheat published for the first time, while export volumes remain high, with analysts expecting record shipments in October.

* Russia’s Grain Exporters Union started publishing indicative export prices for Russian wheat last week. It said that the export price for wheat with 12.5% protein content FOB should be $240 per ton for October, $245 for November, and $250 for December.

* Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn, soybean, soymeal, soyoil and wheat futures contracts on Monday, traders said.

* Global equity markets lost ground on Monday as traders remained cautious amid rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over the U.S. presidential election, helping to push gold futures to new highs.

No major data/events expected on Tuesday, Oct 22 (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Rashmi Aich)